


The White Wolf and Thanksgiving

by Introvertatheart



Series: The White Wolf's New Life [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27717491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introvertatheart/pseuds/Introvertatheart
Summary: Thanksgiving is a time for thanks and many other things. For Bucky, it's just about pie.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The White Wolf's New Life [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952947
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. November 25

When Steve thought about Thanksgiving this year, he was a little excited but also a little nervous more than anything. The new people, Scott and Peter would be joining them. Clint and his family would be coming and they would get to meet Nathaniel. But on the other hand, Nat has told him that there still has been no word from Rumlow. Bucky asked about him frequently and all Steve could say was that he had an emergency. Steve and Nat were starting to get worried that Bucky was starting to think he abandoned him, but they were a little more concerned that Rumlow may have defected and tried to rebuild Hydra. If that was the case then Steve was going to kill him, well, Nat will kill him first then Steve will kill him for abusing Bucky's trust for him.

On a more positive note, Bucky was more than excited for Thanksgiving. For once, he wasn't food driven. He still wanted the pumpkin pie, that was his main goal. But he was ecstatic to spend the day with his family again.

"Bucky?" Steve asked from the kitchen. 

He waited a second then heard footsteps from the stairs. Bucky came around the corner, chewing on his chewy with Harley by his side.

"Snack?" Bucky asked.

"Not yet, the rice is almost done." Bucky wanted rice and eggs for a snack today and Steve wasn't going to say no to him. "But since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, do you want to help me with the pies?"

"Pumpkin." Bucky smiled.

"That's right, but I need you to do something before we get to that point."

"Snack."

"Forget about food for five minutes. I need you to do some chores that need to be done before tonight." Steve said. Bucky only blinked at him. "I know since we've moved I've been a little lax on somethings that you should be doing but now is probably a good time to start. So once you finish your snack, we're going to do a few things around the house. Okay?"

"No." Bucky left the kitchen and sat on the couch. Steve sighed, this was technically more of a start of school for Bucky. Steve hasn't told Bucky about Ms. Lisa not being able to teach him any more so he decided to take matters into his own hands and homeschool him but he couldn't just throw school stuff at Bucky and not expect a meltdown. So he decided to start with simple chores with bits of school work in it. But he had to get Bucky interested first.

After the rice was done, Steve mixed in the eggs. Bucky smelled the eggs cooking and got up. He stood around Steve constantly asking if the food was done.

"Why don't you be helpful and got get your bowl and cup?" Steve smiled at him. Bucky nodded and went to find his bowl and cup. Steve sighed and turned the fire off. Bucky did get annoying when he got hungry and impatient, he never wanted help to speed up the cooking process. But that was just the three year old.

"Daddy, open." He pointed to the refrigerator that was locked.

"What do you want?"

"Milk."

"No milk, you can have juice or water." That was another thing that changed when they moved. Steve had to lower the amount of milk Bucky drank to only before nap time and bed time. And maybe sometimes during breakfast. But drinking it all day needed to stop.

"Want milk."

"No. Water or juice." Bucky whined then flapped his hands. "You can get frustrated all you want, it is not going to change my mind."

At that point Bucky just sighed and frowned. "Juice."

"Okay." It wasn't the easiest transition from not drinking milk all day, but it needed to be done. Steve fixed a bowl of his food then poured a cup of fruit punch in his cup. They both sat down but Bucky wouldn't look at him. Usually that meant he was upset with him.

"Bucky, it's time for a change. You're about to be four in a few months, you have to start making a few changes in your life." Bucky shook his head. "You've gotten too comfortable with me doing everything for you, and trust me I love spoiling you. But wouldn't you like to take a bath by yourself or maybe not wear diapers anymore?" Bucky frowned at him then sighed. "Things have to start changing sweetheart, so can we try to make an effort?" Bucky didn't say anything, Steve sighed then patted his back. This talk will come up again after Thanksgiving. Right now, it was just baby steps for the baby.

After snack time, Steve was able to convince Bucky to start doing little chores around the house. First place was his bedroom, which looked like a tornado slept in.

"Okay, first off, all toys need to either be in the toy bin or on the shelf." 

"Lamby?"

"Lamby can stay on the bed, but the others need to find a place that isn't the floor." Bucky went to put most of his sensory toys in the bin, a few stuffed animals that were never named went to stay on the shelf. Once the floor was somewhat decent that went in the closet, which was another disaster.

"Why do you believe in pulling all your clothes off the hanger?"

Bucky shrugged.

"Well now you have to clean it so I'm going to give you a shirt and I want you to put it on the hanger. No complaints, no whining. Faster we do this, faster we can make pies." Bucky looked a little more motivated but still moved at a snail's pace. Steve asked him about the colors of the clothes and Bucky named all the colors correctly. Once they finished hanging up all the clothes, they went in the kitchen.

"Okay, I'm going to wash the dishes then you are going to dry." Steve handed him a towel. Bucky started to fidget with it. Steve washed the plates and bowls then handed him to Bucky. He dried them off, not very well but it was an effort. After everything was done, Bucky sat on the floor looking like an exhausted puppy.

"What's all that about?"

"No more."

"You have one more thing to do." Bucky shook his head. "Then I need to see the oldest." Bucky looked at him then rubbed his head.

"What?"

"Want to help me do laundry?"

"Boring but sure." Bucky got up and went to the laundry room. "Are you going to make me fold?"

"I won't make you fold but I do want you to take out the clothes from the dryer then put the clothes that's in the washer into the dryer."

"Why is there so much, it's just the two of us?"

"We go through a lot clothes during the day. There's bandanas and Harley's sweaters in there. This really isn't a lot."

"To me it is."

"Just wait until we wash the bedding." Two king size bedding, Bucky's blankets and Harley bed was a lot. And the youngest never helped with laundry day.

"Don't bring me out when you do that." Bucky opened the dryer door. Steve wanted to say he sounded like the youngest but he figure the oldest didn't like being compared to the youngest. He handed him all the clothes from the dryer. He opened the washer and put them in the dryer. Then something caught his attention.

"What is that smell?"

"What smell?"

"Is it lavender?"

"Oh, that's the fabric softener. It makes all the clothes and stuff softer. You don't like that smell?"

"It smells like someone I think I remember."

Steve barely recognized any smell from the past but this was something he didn't think. "Well whoever it is must have smelled nice."

"I don't like not remembering."

"Bucky, you still have so much healing to go through. You've been doing good so far but we have a lot to work through. Please don't be so hard on yourself."

"Yeah, okay." Bucky put the last of the clothes in the dryer. "Anything else I have to do?"

Steve opened a drawer and handed him a sheet. 

"What is this for?"

"To get the wrinkles and pet hair out of clothes."

"You don't iron?"

"Nobody irons anymore, Bucky." Steve smiled.

"You burned yourself didn't you?"

"Maybe." Bucky laughed. A genuine laugh that made Steve think of the past when nothing was going on. "Just put that in there and we'll be done." Bucky put the sheet in the dryer then closed it. Then he started to rub his head. Steve noticed but didn't say anything. Bucky noticed the washer and the weird thing in the middle. He stuck flesh his arm inside and spun the thing.

"Bucky, what are you doing?"

"Spinnies." The three year old said.

"Okay, let's not do that. You don't need to get dizzy." Or have a seizure. "I need you to turn that knob to seventy minutes." Steve said. Bucky looked at the knob and turned it twice, missing seventy both times so Steve put his finger on seventy so he could stop. Once he found the correct time, Steve set the laundry size. "Now you get to do what you love most. Push that button."

Bucky heard button and pushed the right button. The dryer started. The dryer had a clear screen so you could see inside. Bucky was very interested. Steve probably would have left him to stare at the dryer if the dryer wasn't moving so fast.

"You're going to make yourself sick or have a seizure." Steve pulled him away and they went in the kitchen. "Thanks for helping." Steve held up a double high five, Bucky looked a little confused but double high fived him. Steve looked at the time, almost seven. "Okay, we are going to fix dinner. Any request?"

"Pie."

"Not yet."

"Cookie."

"How about nachos?" Bucky didn't look too sure about it, eating crunchy stuff was still an iffy for him. "Or we can do burritos?" Bucky nodded. Steve put two burritos in the toaster oven.

"Pie."

"Eat first. I promise we can make them once you finish." Bucky sighed. Steve cooked the beef. Bucky's burrito had to be simple mainly because too much stuff in it would cause him to choke. So far he's doing okay with beef, cheese and rice. 

As they ate their dinner, Steve's phone buzzed. Tony sent the menu for the feast. Ham, turkey, mac and cheese, potato salad, cornbread, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and bread rolls. And Steve is to bring two pumpkin pies. Two was barely enough for all of them last year. But when he thought about it, Vision doesn't eat, Rumlow is still MIA, he was pretty sure Clint was bringing his family, Scott and Peter was most likely joining them. He had no idea if Loki and Thor were coming. On top of all that Bucky always wanted seconds and thirds. 

Then he had an idea.

He bought two crust pans and that was enough for everyone at the feast. But if he could make a homemade crust he could make a third pie to leave at home and Bucky wouldn't throw a fit tomorrow.

Steve finished his burrito then got up to make sure he had everything. Once he was sure, he got the supplies so he could start making the crust and getting everything in the oven at the same time.

"Doing?" Bucky asked from the table.

Steve got the pumpkin filling from the freezer and placed them in the microwave. "I think I am going to make a third pie so we can have one to leave here. Are you finished?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, come wash your hands and you can help me." Along with making the crust and filling, it should take no more than an hour and a half, maybe two to get all three pies in the oven. They would be cutting into bedtime a little bit but Bucky wasn't going to go to bed without tasting testing first.

"Okay, I'm not going to ask you to not make a mess but I am asking that you keep the mess on the counter. Actually-" Steve got a roll of parchment paper and rolled it on the counter. "That way we can at least save the counters. Okay, first off lets measure out the dry ingredients and you can mix as I put them in." Steve got all the dry ingredients together and put them in the bowl. He put in the wet ingredients then noticed Bucky was poking at everything in the bowl. "Stop poking. Let's switch." Steve started to stir, Bucky went to poking everything until the flour tipped over, thankfully on parchment paper. He was being a mess but not making a mess and he was occupied. 

Once the dough was mixed together, he got a rolling pin and rolled it out. The dough looked good, not the same as store bought but close enough. Bucky probably wouldn't be able to tell a difference. He looked over at Bucky and noticed his flesh hand was covered in flour and he was patting his head and even Harley had a hand print on her head.

"You are a silly boy. Okay, time to make the filling. No eating or finger poking until all of these in the oven." Steve said. Bucky somewhat nodded. Steve had to keep an eye on him when they were dealing with the filling.

Steve got all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and was about to put the pumpkin in but Bucky wanted to taste. 

"Friday, pre-heat the oven to 450 please."

" _Of course._ " The oven turned on to 450. 

Steve could tell Bucky was staring at him then at the bowl as he scraped the filling into the pie crust. "All done?"

"No, they have to cook and while they cook we are going to get ready for a bath."

"No." 

"I'm not arguing with you, Buck." Bucky whined then sat on the floor and cried. Steve groaned then got a spoon, usually he would try to correct the behavior but Bucky was a stubborn boy and Steve did not feel like disciplining him almost twenty minutes before bed. He scraped the remnants of filling and held it in his face.

"Mine."

"You will get this after you have a bath. No whining or complaining. Understand?"

"Okay." Steve set the pies in the oven.

"Friday set a timer for 45 minutes."

" _Starting timer._ " The timer started and the trio headed upstairs. Once Steve got him bathed, he gave him the spoon and a cup of milk.

"Are you excited for tomorrow? Don't say because of the food, are you excited to see your family?" Bucky nodded. "Now let's set a rule for tomorrow, absolutely no biting or growling. You get food aggressive entirely too fast, so tomorrow we practice that biting impulse and patience. You eat when the rest of us eats. Understand?"

Bucky finished licking the spoon then gave him the spoon.

"Did you understand what I just asked?" Bucky looked at him then smiled. Steve held a groan then kissed his forehead. Then got him to take his medicine. "You're going to be trouble tomorrow, I can already see it. Go get comfortable, I'll be back."

"Pie." Bucky nearly got up with him but Steve pointed a finger at him.

"You better be in that bed by the time I get back." Bucky pouted at him but laid against the headboard. Steve went downstairs to check on the pies, he got a butter knife and poked each pie. Surprisingly they were all done.

"That didn't take as long as I thought." Steve said as he took the pies out.

" _You did set the oven to a higher temperature degree thus speeding up the baking._ "

"Right, I can't leave these out all night. If Bucky gets up before me, I'm going to be waking up to there not being any pies."

" _Below your second oven is a warming oven, it will stay warm for the night. If Bucky does come down to search for them, I will lock the oven_."

"Thanks Friday." Steve put the three pies in the oven then went back upstairs. Bucky was still in bed rocking but fidgeting with his hands.

"Thanks for staying in bed."

"All done?"

"Yeah, remember only for tomorrow. Sleep good, okay?" Steve kissed his head then turned off the lamp. He felt Bucky shift himself towards Steve and lay against his back. Steve purposefully bought a California king bed so Bucky had his own space on the bed. But every night Bucky laid his weight against Steve and it made Steve have less than a few inches to move around. Harley wasn't helping with laying her body against his feet so he couldn't stretch out his six foot frame.

Steve hated to think about it, but Bucky needed to be in his own bed by the end of the year or he might have to invest in a divider.

He loved his boy, he really did, but he needed to go.


	2. Thanksgiving day

As normal, Steve woke up to the birds singing and with a pair of eyes staring at him. But this time, he woke up to Harley staring at him. Bucky wasn't on the bed.

Steve's first thought was that Bucky had made his way downstairs to a find the pies but then he heard a laugh and the distinct sound of Bucky flapping his hand. He looked over and saw Bucky laying on the ground watching his tablet.

But Steve did notice he had taken off his metal arm.

"Sweet boy?" Steve tapped his knee.

Bucky looked at him then smiled. "Hi."

"Good morning, why are you on the floor?"

"Owie." He pointed to his shoulder.

"Another flare up. I guess it was bound to happen soon." Despite the vibranium arm being pretty much equal in weight to his flesh arm, Bucky's shoulder caused him pain. His shoulder and along the left side of his back were hot spots. Muscles and bones that never healed and Shuri explained that it could take months or years to correct that type of damage. On top of that, she explained that she wouldn't be surprised if Bucky had more pain when it got colder.

Steve checked his phone, low 50's throughout the day. He would probably leave the arm off for the day. Or the entire season.

"Okay, what do you want to do first? Take a bath or have breakfast?"

"Bath." Now Steve knew he was really hurting. Bucky always wanted to eat before a bath. 

Steve got him bathed, he did notice the exposed skin of his shoulder was inflamed. Steve put a healing cream on it then covered it. 

"What are you feeling for breakfast?"

"Pie."

"No, how about pancakes?"

"Waffles."

"Even better. Come on." They went downstairs. Steve let Harley outside then made waffles. 

After they all ate and Bucky took a nap, Steve wrapped the two pies then got a few tuber ware bowls for leftovers. 

Steve got dressed and got Bucky dressed. He was a long sleeve shirt and Steve felt a little nauseous when he saw his left sleeve hanging. Not a good reminder of what was missing. 

Steve got a few bandanas just in case Bucky started to drool, he's due for another bad episode this week.

Once they had everything together, they got in the truck and headed to the facility.

They arrived a little less than an hour to spare before Tony started to spam him with calls. 

"We're here." Steve said, coming in from the elevator.

"Finally and he bought pie. I hope this is enough for everyone." Nat said.

"It better be."

"Hi sweetheart, where's your arm?"

"Owie." Bucky whined.

"It's hurting you? I thought it was suppose to help relieve some of the pressure."

"He has flare ups every now and then but now that it's getting colder, it getting worse."

"Shuri and Bruce know about this, right?"

"Shuri does, I'm not sure Bruce does. But if it gets to the point where he's whining and complaining about it hurting, I'll ask him for a medicine to put on it." Steve set the pies on the large dining table. The feast looked amazing, glazed ham and a well seasoned turkey stood out to him.

"They made it." Tony said coming out the conference room with Sam, Bruce, Pepper, Scott, Peter, Vision, Thor, Loki and Clint and his family. But no Rumlow.

"Hey Bucko." Scott said. Steve saw him raise his hand to give Bucky a pat on his very sensitive shoulder, he was about to stop him but was a second too late.

Bucky screamed then bit Scott's hand.

"Why does he always bite me?"

"That wasn't an impulse bite, his shoulder is hurting today and any little touch send him whining."

Scott apologized, Bucky went to sit on the couch but even rocking was causing him pain.

"Give him a few minutes, hey Clint."

"Hey man." Clint has definitely changed since Steve has last saw him, he looked fit and the sides of his hair were getting shorter. "Didn't think I ever see the day you grow a whole beard."

"Yeah, not getting rid of it either."

"How's the kid?"

"Trouble but doing better. Slowly getting better. You'll have to come check out the house."

"We will, come meet Nathaniel." Clint showed him his new baby, Nat was right he was a chunky little baby, not her exact words but still adorable. "You want to hold him?"

"Uh.." Steve would but Bucky was directly staring at him and the new baby and Bucky got jealous easily. But why not test the boundaries with him? "Sure." Clint carefully handed him Nathaniel. He was cute then he felt the presence of a jealous three year old.

Bucky was standing next to him staring intently at the baby. "What that?"

"A baby. He was in Laura's stomach." Clint said. Bucky had a look that read confusion. He raised a finger and poked Nathaniel's leg.

"Baby?" Bucky asked.

"That's right." Steve smiled, maybe Bucky just needed to see what a baby was. Maybe he could actually like Nathaniel. 

Nathaniel then grabbed at Bucky then snagged a piece of his hair. Bucky whined then growled at him. "Go sit on the couch Buck." Maybe not.

"That was expected he likes to grab at Laura's and Lila's hair."

"At least Bucky didn't bite him." Steve handed Nathaniel back to him then went to Bucky. "Did he hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"He's just a baby and babies like to grab and pull on things. Don't get upset with him, okay?"

"Kay."

"And now that everyone has met everyone, why don't we start eating?" Tony said.

"Papa?" Bucky whined and looked around. Everyone got a little quiet at that.

"Do you want to tell him or should I tell him?" Nat said.

"About what?"

Nat went to Bucky and got his hands. "Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me carefully okay?" Bucky nodded. "Papa left suddenly and he didn't tell anyone where he was going and we can't get in contact with him."

"Papa gone?"

"He's not dead, we just don't know where he is." Bucky looked at her then began to cry. Steve huffed down an angry sigh.

"No like."

"You don't like him anymore? Don't worry when I find him I'll deal with him. I'll leave the remnants for your other momma bear over there." She pointed to Steve who was a bit red in the face.

"We'll find him Buck. Someone just better find him before I do. But let's not worry about him right now, I'm sure you're ready to eat." Either Nat or Steve was going to kill Rumlow for doing this to Bucky. And everyone knew how bad things can go when momma bear Steve comes out. But momma bear Nat might be just as frightening.

"Seems like someone needs to prepare himself for a funeral." Tony mocked.

"If he gets that lucky." Steve gave Bucky a plate of food then fixed himself a plate. Bucky ate rather slowly, with one arm he had more trouble picking up food. 

"Help." Bucky whined. Steve looked at him not really sure on how to help him eat.

"You're just going to have to try your best, I'm not going to hand feed you." Steve smiled sadly at him. Bucky whined then tried to eat his bread roll. He usually liked to pull it apart but now he just ate it slowly. 

"Alright everyone I have an important announcement." Tony stood up.

"I swear if we're moving..." Nat said.

"Nobody's moving. I am announcing that we're going to Disney World."

"What?" Nearly everyone said. Lila and Cooper were excited. Peter was excited and Scott was probably a little too excited.

"Disney?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, what is this Disney World you speak of? Is it another Midgardian world?" Thor asked.

"Disney World is on Earth in Florida. It's a place where everything is magical, not literally. We are going to be there for the week of Christmas."

"Sounds exciting. I will be attending. Loki?"

"No."

"Loki will be attending." Thor smiled but Loki frowned at him.

"Everyone's invited. But I need to speak to momma bear one and two." Tony pointed to Steve and Nat. 

"Daddy." Bucky whined.

"Yes?"

"All done."

"Are you sure? It's almost time for pie." Bucky nodded. "Does your shoulder still hurt?" Bucky nodded. If Bucky was hurting so much that he didn't even want pie, it was starting to become serious.

"Does he need a pain medication?" Bruce asked.

"At this point, I think so. Can you look at it before we do that?"

"Sure, come outside." Steve and Bucky followed Bruce into the conference room. Steve unbuttoned Bucky's flannel then removed the sleeve covering his shoulder. It was actually more inflamed than when they left home.

"Oh, no wonder you're hurting." Bruce said.

"Is it infected?"

"No, like you said it's a flare up and the best thing I can do is give him something to ease the pain. But considering how inflamed it is, I don't think he's telling us how much it's really bothering him." Steve knew Winter had an unbelievably high pain tolerance, the oldest not so much and the baby was always careful about not getting hurt so Steve never knew how he responded to extreme pain. But if the baby's tolerance for pain was high then the shoulder might be causing more of an issue than he thought.

"It's only going to get worse before it gets better because of the weather getting colder. I don't want to keep medicating him."

"Well, here's what I can do. I can make something that he can take when it becomes too much like today. But I would probably give it to him before it gets to this point."

"Side effects?"

"Won't know until I make it." Steve sighed. This was probably bound to happen. Typical human medicine was not going to work and the cream Steve put on Bucky's shoulder only lasted for a few hours. At this point, Bucky's pain was near chronic if not already chronic. He was going to have to be put on a medication to help ease the pain.

"Alright, I just hope it won't lead to surgery."

"At some point I would like to take an x-ray of it. But all we can do right now is help him manage it." Bruce said. Steve nodded. Bruce should have the medicine done before the trip to make Bucky responded well. Until then all Steve could do is keep the inflammation down and stay on top of the flare ups.

Then a knock.

"Hi, it's time for the momma bear talk." Tony said coming in with Nat.

"I'll leave you guys to talk then." Bruce said then left.

"Okay, I already told the others while you two were talking but we're going to have to take a plane." Tony said.

"The quinjets?"

"No, like a passenger plane with other people." 

"Do you realize how dangerous that is?"

"Well, it's about the normal risk of getting on a jet."

"I meant if someone recognized us."

"Who doesn't recognize us? If anyone doesn't know us they either just been born or coming out of a coma."

"Don't you have a jet?"

"It won't fit all of us."

Steve rubbed his face, "So why do you need to talk to us?"

"Do either of you know how he is on planes?"

"He's been on the jet before and he doesn't like the vibrations of it, it messes with his senses. When we were on the jet to Wakanda, he was either asleep or distracted with toys. How long is the flight?"

"Estimated two to three hours."

"Early morning?"

"Yep."

"The best thing I can do is keep him distracted. But with new people and a sudden new environment, he's almost certain to have a sensory meltdown."

"Wouldn't be the first someone heard a crying baby on a plane."

"But crying babies don't lash out like he does."

"Yeah that is true."

"Steve, the next few weeks show him videos of people traveling and tell him this is where we are going and this is how we are getting there. Simple as that." Nat offered.

Fair enough.

"Alright. But Tony, Bucky needs another medical bracelet."

"Where's the other one?"

"I don't know. I didn't even know it was missing until last week. I looked through everything. At some point when all that stuff went down with the government, he must have chewed it off or it broke off. But the information needed to be updated anyway."

"I'll make it. Should be done before the trip."

"Thanks, do you want pie Bucky?"

"Pie." Bucky smiled. He must be feeling well enough to eat pie now. They got up and went in the living area.

Everyone had already cut into the pie. Steve fixed him a piece then sat next to him. He wanted to wait and try the pie at home.

"Wow, I am stuffed. You guys sure do know how to cook." Scott said.

"Yeah, most of this none of us made. Steve made the pies." Tony said.

"You should be a baker, man. I would eat everything."

"Yeah, baking isn't really my thing. I only made that because it's the only thing I remember of my mom's cooking." Steve said.

"Well I'm sure she's proud." Scott said. Steve surely hoped she would be proud. Bucky finished his pie then went to sit next to Harley by the couch. Steve guessed he would probably be dozing off within ten minutes.

It was a good Thanksgiving despite the momma bear inside of him desperately trying to get out and find Rumlow. But that was another fight for later. Bucky seemed to have enjoyed himself beside the shoulder pain. Harley was given a few pieces of ham so she could feel included. Today was probably one of the first family gatherings that Bucky didn't have a major energy burst or impulse to bite. 

"Oh, I almost forgot. New people have to say what they are grateful for and don't be cheesy and say that you are grateful for meeting us." Tony said.

"I guess we'll go first. I'm thankful for you guys saving us from Hydra." Wanda said.

"Agreed." Pietro said.

"Uh, I guess I'm thankful Bucky hasn't attacked me today." Scott said.

"Don't jinx it." Sam said.

"Okay, I think I am grateful for making friends with Bucky." Peter said. 

"I do not know what to be thankful for." Vision said.

"Be thankful you're alive. Alright, life wasn't easy this year especially with you know what his face. But now that all that is over, I'm glad we can all just celebrate and be one big, dysfunctional happy family." Tony said.

"Nice speech, Stark." Nat said.

"Thanks, now everyone who doesn't live here take food to go." Tony said. Steve packed two tuber ware bowls of almost everything. He avoided the vegetables because Bucky wasn't going to eat them and Bucky didn't like cranberry sauce either.

"Steve, your kid is having a seizure." Sam said. Steve's head whipped around to the couch, Harley was whining but was laying by Bucky head. He wasn't thrashing just trembling. Steve set the bowls down then went to him. Loki was crouching by Bucky, wanting to help but didn't know what to do. The seizure was already starting to end but Steve could tell something wasn't right. Bucky was breathing way too hard for coming out of a mild seizure.

"Is he okay?" Loki asked.

"Not sure yet." Steve frowned but didn't touch him. "Bucky, look at me." Bucky's eyes twitched then stared at him. A confused stare. "You okay?" Bucky sat up then looked around, something really wasn't right. "Bucky, you're at the Avengers facility. Can you tell me who I am?" Bucky looked at him. Steve couldn't tell who was at the surface, every time Bucky came out of a seizure he had a weird glaze on his eyes. 

Then Bucky stood up.

"Bucky, can you talk to me?" 

"Little one." Loki said reaching a hand to him. He caught Bucky's attention and Steve immediately saw the aggressive switch. He immediately grabbed Bucky by the flesh arm, Bucky bit him and scratched him. Steve sat him on the floor and restrained his legs. Bucky bit his own arm then Steve again.

"Bucky, calm down."

"And we were doing so well." Tony said.

"Not the time. Stark." Steve said.

"Did I do something wrong?" Loki asked.

"No, I think he's caught between mindsets. He's defending himself which is on Winter's part but this is meltdown like behavior from the three year old. This doesn't happen often." Steve flinched when Bucky pierced the skin on his arm. Steve patted Bucky on the chest to redirect his attention somewhere else. "Hey, look at your doggy. Find her ears." Bucky bit his own arm again then touched Harley's ear. "Find her nose." Bucky pointed to her nose. "Good job. Look at me." Bucky slightly looked up at him. "Who am I?" Bucky slightly tilted his head.

"Daddy."

"Good job. Are you okay?"

"Okay."

"That's good. Just sit here and relax, we'll leave in a few minutes. Play with Harley." Steve released Bucky then stood up. Bucky patted Harley's head then fidgeted with her ears. Steve sighed then went back to the kitchen.

"New behavior?" Nat asked.

"No, it's happened before. It's like he's stuck between mindsets so I think when Loki made a move to touch him Winter reacted then the three year old came out."

"So Winter is sort of the defender mindset?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, something like that. But now that you guys are part of the family and have seen a sort of meltdown, it is probably good to tell you to not touch him when he's going through full one."

"Is it bad?" Peter asked. Everyone nodded.

"I am the only that can restrain him and calm him down but just if you see him screaming and frequently biting himself, stay near him but don't touch him."

"What if you're nowhere near him?" Scott asked.

"It's going to take all of you to restrain him. He's just as strong as me and he will bite you until you bleed. Trust me, this hurts and he's probably bitten me over a hundred times by now. Just if you see him frequently biting, tell me." 

"Can he taste blood when he bites you?" Loki asked.

"I'm sure he can. But his mind is on other things during a meltdown. Okay, we are going to go home because he's getting tired. Thanks for the feast guys." Steve said picking Bucky up.

"I'll call you a few days before the trip so you can see where you guys are sitting." Tony said.

"Bye-bye." Bucky waved to them.

"He's only nice when he's tired." Tony said.

"Bye Stark." Steve got in the elevator. He could tell Bucky was getting tired and it was only an hour before bed time. But he was sure if he asked him if he wanted to try the pie at home, he would wake up a little more.

"Daddy?"

"Hm?"

"Pie?"

"You remembered the pie at home?" Bucky nodded. "Okay, you can have a piece." Bucky smiled then closed his eyes. Just a quick nap.

"Hey Cap." Sam said coming from the elevator.

"What's going on?"

"Did you call the therapist I sent you?"

"I haven't. I'll try next week."

"Okay, don't wait too long. He needs to get an evaluation of him so he knows what he's dealing with."

"I know, it's just I don't know if I can trust any psychiatrist after that fake doctor."

"Steve, he's part of the same organization that hired Dr. Nicole. Stark already ran an intensive background check on him and he comes back clean. I'm sure he can be trusted. If not, then you'll have a major problem if you can't that boy in therapy. For example, dissociation." Steve couldn't argue with that. 

"I'll give him a call next week to set up an appointment."

"Alright, good luck." Sam went back in the elevator. Steve got in the truck and thought about everything on the entire way home.

Once they arrived home, Bucky ate the homemade pie, which he approved. Steve fed Harley then went upstairs to get Bucky in a bath.

"No."

"No bath?" Steve asked. Bucky nodded. "I'm sure if you took a bath, you'll sleep a little better." Bucky only sighed. He was so tired he couldn't argue. Steve got him in a quick bath then got him medicated and in bed. Then Harley came upstairs.

"Do you want a bath too?" Steve smiled. Harley jumped on the bed and laid on Bucky's feet. Steve took a long, hot shower then got in bed.

It had been a good day, despite the mini meltdown Bucky experienced, but otherwise a good day. Everyone behaved themselves. Rumlow was probably going to feel the wrath of Steve and Nat whenever they found him.

Now he had to think about this upcoming trip. It had completely ruined his plans to have Christmas in the new house. He was really looking forward to putting up the tree and decorating around the house. Might as well forget about doing all that.

Disney World was a child's paradise and probably some hardcore Disney fan's paradise too. The amount of people there was enough to make Bucky have a nervous breakdown. But even before Steve could think about the place itself, he had to think about this plane situation. When Bucky got scared, he rocked himself violently and flapped his arms. Steve didn't have a problem explaining to the flight crew that he had a mental illness but explaining that to other people might not go over so well. People these days weren't very accepting of mental illnesses, especially on a plane where they might scream and cause a disturbance. 

All Steve could probably do is distract Bucky long enough or hope he somehow falls asleep but that was unlikely as Bucky was going to be at an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. And he does not handle unfamiliarity very well.

Steve needed time to think about this. And he will do after that he comes out of his food coma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think of the news?
> 
> I'm super excited about it and also pretty nervous. But all in all, this will be fun to write.

**Author's Note:**

> Be safe out there guys, things are getting worse. So celebrate in a safe and respectable way.


End file.
